Top 5 Countdown: Popular Things to Do on a Thursday/ Friday Night

Enjoy the latest edition of the Top 5 Countdown where Anthony shares the top 5 popular things to do on a Thursday or Friday night!

If you have any suggestions for a Top 5 Countdown, be sure to email Anthony at interadm@elon.edu

Happy Viewing!

Anthony & Cheryl Answer Your Questions!

Hi everyone:

Anthony & I thought we would change things up a bit and record a video of us answering YOUR questions.  Feel free to continue to send questions our way – email interadm@elon.edu to reach Anthony or cborden2@elon.edu to reach myself!  Enjoy!

120710 Anthony & Cheryl

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Video Blog: Questions from My Inbox

The return of the “Questions from My Inbox” blog, video edition!  Enjoy and send me those questions for future posts!

Questions from My Inbox: July 8, 2010

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Tips in the Admissions Process – “Using A College Fair”

Hello ETA readers:

Well, I finally have access to a regular keyboard (and not my cell phone keyboard) and some free internet use (Thank you International School of Kuala Lumpur!) so I thought I would take advantage of this!  As  I mentioned in a previous post, during the course of my travels with the CIS Tour, we are often requested to do presentations on various topics related to the U.S. college admissions process.  One presentation that I already gave had to do with how to properly and effectively use a college fair.  Thus, for those of you who are juniors and seniors (or freshman and sophomores!), I present to you the opportunity to learn more about how to maximize your experience at a college fair!  Here are some tips:

• Before the college fair, take a few moments to think about questions that you would like to ask.  You will want to ask college representatives questions that will address your interests and needs at a college or university.  Common questions can relate to topics like:  location, population, special programs, campus life, athletics, financial aid, etc.
• Be sure to ask, ask, ask questions!  The more questions you ask, the more that you will learn about this process and about the school that you are interested in applying to.  Admissions representatives are at the college fair to provide you more information about their school – and 100% of representatives love to talk to people!
• Don’t forget to tell the represenative a little bit about yourself as well!  If you are interested in a particular school and want to know more about them, be sure to fill out legibly and completely an inquiry card.  This allows the university to communicate with you in regards to more information about the school but also special opportunities such as live chat sessions or upcoming events!
• Be a leader and not a follower.  By this, I mean to explore options that YOU are interested in and not necessarily the options of your friends.  Too often at college fairs, I will see packs of students moving from table to table together.  Travel with one or two other friends and you will really be able to ask questions about what is important to you in a college or university.
• Last but certainly not least – don’t just grab materials off a table – this includes pens!  Please know that as admissions representatives, we want to talk to you about our schools and we can provide you with much more information beyond the brochures.  For example, if you ask me about studying abroad in Australia, I can tell you about my personal experience of studying abroad there while I was a student at Elon University.  Personal stories, anecdotes, and other connections to the university go a long way in understanding the campus culture.  So talk to me – and then you can take my pen!

I hope you found this helpful – I will be trying to provide more tips in the process as the fall progresses!

From My Inbox: A Soggy Friday Edition

Welcome to another edition of From My Inbox….

 

Yes, believe it or not, but it does rain at Elon University (as you can guess by the title of this post!) I am asked about the weather in North Carolina quite frequently when traveling and I will say that while Elon does experience all types of weather, blue skies & sunshine often prevail!

Here are this week’s questions:
Q. “How is the Fellows [Program] curriculum different from the regular academic curriculum?”
A. This question is referring to Elon University’s Fellows Program which I like to describe as an enhanced academic experience that has opportunities for study abroad grants as well as scholarship money. Essentially, students selected to participate in one of our 6 Fellows Programs (Honors, Leadership, Elon College, Business, Communications, and Teaching) have specialized learning opportunities that others in their academic field may not have. For example, if a student is a Business Fellow, they will take a class each semester as a cohort that is taught just for Business Fellows. Business Fellows also will study abroad together in their 1st Winter Term, travel to New York City during their senior year to visit the New York Stock Exchange, and have the opportunity to either invest part of Elon’s endowment in the stock market or do consulting work with local businesses during their senior year. These are opportunities that normal business students do not have! Students who are Leadership Fellows participate in a 4-phase Leadership Program that focuses on a different theme every year which include Emerging Leaders, Collaboration, Change, and Common Good. Leadership Fellows also have opportunities for travel, earn a minor in Leadership Studies, and have an opportunity to meet & talk with the Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor Leadership. Past professors include David Gergen, Christine Todd Whitman, and Ben Bradlee. And these are only the opportunities available in two of our programs….I would encourage you to look into each program to find out more about each of them! Just click on the words “Elon University Fellows Program” to get started….

Q. “My OnTrack information says that Elon is missing my high school transcript – does that mean that I am not eligible for Early Action anymore?”
A. First and foremost, the most important thing to do is to get us the missing information as soon as possible! If your application was submitted on time, we will work with you if you are missing pieces of your application (up to a specific date). We know that for many of you, your college counseling/guidance offices were SWAMPED with transcript requests, recommendations, etc. Thus we allow for flexibility on receiving this information – although that does not mean that you should not arrange to send those materials to us as soon as possible. Please know that there is a cut-off date of when we NO LONGER will accept missing information to complete an application. At that point, if we are still missing a piece of your application, your application will be moved to our Final Application deadline pool. But for now, don’t panic! If you work on getting that missing information to us as soon as possible, we will work on keeping your application in Early Action.

Q. “I applied to Elon during Early Decision/ Early Action. Is there anything else that I can do at this point?”
A. At this point, the Admissions staff is busy reading files, reading files, and reading more files! We are excited to be getting to know each of you a little bit more in this process. At this point, the best thing that you can do is continue to update us (specifically me if you are an international student or go to school in Massachusetts or Rhode Island) with any achievements since you submitted your application. For example, how did your 1st quarter wrap up? How did your soccer team do in the state tournament? What new projects are you involved? This can simply be done via email! You can also start looking into scholarships programs such as our Fellows Programs. However, regardless of where Elon University falls on your list, I would also HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to start researching financial aid (if you are eligible to apply) and/or scholarship opportunities. There is a wealth of information on those subjects and I would encourage you to visit http://www.elon.edu/e-web/admissions/FinancialAid/tips.xhtml. Many students wait until Spring to start researching what scholarship opportunities are available to them, but I would encourage you to start now.

That is all from my inbox for now…back to getting to know more of you/reading your application files!

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

From my Inbox: Election Day Edition

Good evening ETA readers!

As mentioned above, today is ELECTION DAY in the United States so unfortunately at this point (6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4th), I cannot answer who will be the next President! However, I CAN answer questions about Elon University and the admissions process…here are some of this week’s questions:

Q. “I applied Early Decision/ Early Action/ Final Deadline to Elon University. Will I hear sooner than the deadline about my admissions decision?”

A. No – unfortunately not. Since moving to deadline admissions several years ago, we have not released decisions on a “rolling” basis – everyone who applied during a specific deadline will receive their admissions decisions on the same day. Here are the release dates for our 3 different deadlines:

Early Decision (application due on Nov 1st) – Notification date: Dec 1st

Early Action (application due on Nov 10th) – Notification date: Dec 19th

Final Deadline (application due on Jan 10th) – Notification date: March 13th

You can also view these deadlines at http://www.elon.edu/e-web/admissions/deadlines.xhtml.

Q. “Do Elon admissions counselors look up students on Facebook to find out more about them?”
A. No, we do not although I only speak for Elon University and not other institutions. To be honest with you, every college is different. Some colleges even have a policy against/for Facebooking prospective students. However, I can tell you from Elon’s point of view, we do not do this and do not “check” on students on Facebook. To be quite honest with you, we receive so many applications that we do not have time to check Facebook!

Q. “I am completing an online application and have run into problems with the extracurricular activities section – I have run out of room to list my awards/accomplishments/leadership roles/etc. What do you recommend that I do?”

A. First and foremost, congrats on having so many achievements – that is great! What I recommend is two different options – either works for us. Your options include:

• Typing that information in the “Personal Statement” section that is towards the end of the application. We will see this section on the application and are used to having students put their extracurricular activity information here. OR YOU COULD
• Consider creating a resume to submit with your application. Some students choose this option for providing us details about what they participate in outside the classroom.

Either option works for us!

That is all from my inbox for this week- please continue to contact me with any questions that you may have and I will do my best to respond!

Also, look for another post early next week as this weekend at Elon will be a busy one! Not only is it Homecoming Weekend, but I will also be at the Elon football game against Western Carolina, the men’s soccer game against Wofford (the 1st Round of the Southern Conference tournament), and the last performance of Sweeney Todd.